Review: The 1975 at Red Hill Auditorium

The 1975 at Red Hill Auditorium
w/ Wallice
Saturday, April 8, 2023

On the road for their At Their Very Best tour, Manchester pop rock band The 1975 stopped by Red Hill Auditorium last Saturday for an absolute feast of a show. It was the first date on their Australian leg and coincidently lead singer Matty Healy's 34th birthday.

Although the tour is celebrating the release of their latest album Being Funny in a Foreign Language, the show was promised to be a smorgasbord of their best works spanning all five of their studio albums.

What better place to celebrate a birthday than at the picturesque Red Hill Auditorium? Perched on a hillside overlooking the city lights, it was the perfect backdrop for the hopeless romantics to perform. Luckily a storm had just passed over and the rains held off. It wasn't perfect weather for an outdoor Perth show, but if you're coming from Manchester it would seem pretty bang on.

LA born and based singer Wallice opened the show and performed a stylish set of her brand of alternative bedroom pop. Performing her most popular songs 90s American Superstar, Funeral and latest single Best Friend, lifted of her upcoming EP Mister Big Shot due for release this June, her synth-based ethereal music primed the crowd that was already reaching close to capacity.

The large LED screens on either side of the stage lit up to project a live stream of the backstage band room with Healy sitting at a table by a birthday cake with the band and crew standing around him singing happy birthday. He blew out the candle and the camera followed him in real time onto the stage solo. He started the show by playing Be My Mistake on acoustic guitar to a crowd in silence (except for a few excited girls singing along).

The stage was decorated as a lounge room in the centre, complete with a couch, coffee table, record player and ornamental vases. Healy sat down at the coffee table, put on a record, lit a cigarette and poured himself a red wine as the rest of the band came on stage and took their positions and went into Looking for Somebody (To Love).

“It’s my birthday!” Healy decreed, as the crowd started to sing happy birthday. The first bracket of songs went from very funky to laid-back funky, or ‘loungey,’ which is apparently what they were going for, with the set design and band dressed all in casual leisure suits. Their latest single Oh Caroline was an early highlight.

The 1975 band members were joined by a percussionist and keys player, plus a second guitarist/vocalist to fill out their live sound. The 1975 records are highly produced with a lot of their signature studio sound coming from effects added in post-production, so it was great to see the songs being performed in a big band setting without the effects being central to the sound and being able to hear the music stripped back to just live players. This made raw elements like the saxophone really stand out.

If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) picked up the tempo and got the crowd to their feet. The saxophone solos were ripping. Every time the sax player stepped forward to solo the crowd went absolutely nuts with cheers.

I’m In Love With You kept the funk dance vibes going and made for a nice moment with the whole band singing along with the extra members dancing in unison and the crowd joining the sing-along.

The synths came out for fallingforyou which was the first song to shift from their standard funk/guitar style into their more experimental ambient synth sound.

Healy on acoustic guitar went in an impromptu I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys which invoked the call and response of “Tell my why!” from the audience, with Healy blushing “…oh Perth!”

Healy was playing the part of the brooding artist, adoring his glass of red wine, with cigarette in mouth and playfully pretending to stumble around the stage. When he wasn't holding a wine he was sneaking sips from his hip flask, perhaps he was having his own birthday party. From the amount of alcohol he consumed he should have been a mess but he performed flawlessly, didn't miss a note or lyric and gave it his all, leading some to believe he may have been playing into the “lounge act” theatrics of the show.

The mammoth 24 strong set was tightly structured but still allowed room for Healy to improvise and engage with the crowd. He denied a shoey request and expressed his disgust for drinking out of a shoe. “Fuck you I’ll neck my wine instead!” he joked.

The final stretch was wall-to-wall bangers including The Sound and Sex, before they closed with Give Yourself a Try as Healy proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for The 1975!” It was refreshing to see a band not offer an encore and just finish the show on a high.

The 1975 performed a world-class set with a solid repertoire of hits to keep the audience engaged. Despite the collective talent on stage, it was clearly the Matty Healy show. He is world-class natural performer with romantic old world charm and the pomp of a UK rock star, backed by a solid band of musicians with their own individual styles. It's no wonder The 1975 have the world at their feet.

ANTHONY JACKSON

Photos by JCH